Google buys a Nest in your home

Google is spreading its tentacles into the home by buying up smart-thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion in cash.

“The Internet of Things” has been one of the catchier phrases over the last few years as we’ve been promised that our less sexy devices — ovens, thermostats, microwaves, fridges, garage door, etc — will start talking with one another. Nest, which was founded by iPod and iPhone designer Tony Fadell, makes elegant thermostats and smoke detectors that adjust to your habits around the house.

“Google has the business resources, global scale and platform reach to accelerate Nest growth across hardware, software and services for the home globally,” Fadell wrote. “And our company visions are well aligned – we both believe in letting technology do the hard work behind the scenes so people can get on with the things that matter in life.”

The eye-popping purchase broadens the search giant’s reach into all things data and software. Last year it went on a buying spree of robotics companies. It’s Android operating system is far and away the most popular on the planet. Google X, its secret project arm, is working on self-driving cars. Google Ventures sunk $258 million into Uber last year, presumably for the treasure troves of data the car service has on people’s movements. And of course the company tracks just about everyone’s habits through its search engine, Gmail and Chrome browser.

It’s tempting to say Google is just getting into artificial intelligence, but the algorithms that power the search giant’s software have always been in that arena. The company learns about our behaviors and adjusts ads and other search results accordingly.

Fadell also said that Nest will continue to be Nest — meaning not much would change in terms of product management — but the implications for privacy are hard to avoid.

“Your Nest thermostat is now controlled by an advertising company that has repeatedly violated consumers’ privacy,” wrote ACLU technologist Chris Soghoian.

In an Q/A Nest responded to the concerns with a vaguely worded statement: “Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.”